Lading tie anchor



March 29, 1960 F. JENSEN r-:TAL 2,930,330

LADING TIE .mex-IOR Filed June '7, 1957 top wall of a railway gondola car.

United States Patent O LADING TIE ANCHOR Finn Jensen and Theodore J. Sweger, Riverdale, Ill.,

aignors to Illinois Railway Equipment Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application June 7, 1957, Serial No. 664,263

2 Claims. (Cl. 10S-369) This invention relates, generally, to lading tie anchors and it has particular relation to such anchors for attachment to the underside of a bulb angle extending along a It constitutes an improvement over the lading tie fastener of Oakley Patent No. 2,587,882 issued March 4, 1952 and assigned to the assignee of this application.

The lading tie fastener shown in the patent above referred to includes a fulcrum plate that is arranged to be secured by welding to the underside of the top ange of a bulb angle and a generally rectangular link. Tile link is provided with a shaft portion along one side that is journaled in a socket portion of the fulcrum plate while the opposite side is provided with a bar that is arranged to receive a lading tie. The shaft and bar are interconnected by side members to provide a rigid construction. As long as a lading tie is secured to the bar portion of the link, the latter is held firmly against the outer depending iiange of the bulb angle. However, when the lading tie is removed, the link swings downwardly. In order to prevent the link from swinging freely cam portions are providedat the inner ends of the side members for engaging frictionally the undersurface of the top ange of the bulb angle. While this construction has been satisfactory, it has been found that some objection has been raised to the requirement that the fulcrum plate be positioned accurately with respect to the undersurface of the top flange of the bulb angle. If the lowermost part of the socket portion in the fulcrum plate is positioned too far from the undersurface of the top ange, the cams will not engage frictionally with the undersurface and the link will be permitted to swing freely. n the other hand, if the lowermost portion of the socket is positioned too close to the undersurface of the top ange of the bulb angle, the cams will engage the same too soon and not permit the link to swing downwardly and inwardly as far as desired.

Accordingly, among the objects of this invention are: To provide a lading tie anchor assembly for attachment to the undersurface of the top ange of a bulb angle extending along a top wall of a railway gondola car which can be applied thereto without requiring that it be precisely located with reference to such undersurface; to frictionally hold the link of such an assembly against free swinging when it is not in use by application of friction forces acting wholly between the link and its retainer by which it is mounted underneath the ange of the bulb angle; and to employ a shoulder on the retainer for cooperating with a cam on the link to provide the required frictional engagement.

Other objects of this invention will, in part, be obvious and in part appear hereinafter.

This invention is disclosed in the embodiment thereof shown in the accompanying drawing and it comprises the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts that will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the appended claims.

For a more complete understanding of the nature and scope of this'invention reference can be had to the following detailed description, taken together with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure l is a top plan view of a portion of a bulb angle comprising the top chord of a railway gondola car and illustrating how the lading tie anchor assembly of the present invention can be applied thereto;

Figure 2 is a view, in front elevation, of the construction shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view taken through the bulb angle and a portion of the car side wall and showing how the lading tie assembly embodying the present invention is employed in conjunction with a lading tie, the lading tie assembly being shown in elevation;

Figure 4 is a view, similar to Figure 3, showing the link of the lading tie assembly frictionally held against free swinging; and

Figure 5 is a top plan view of the retainer on which the link is swingingly mounted.

Referring now to the drawing, it will be observed that the reference character 10 designates, generally, a bulb angle that is positioned along a car side wall of a railway gondola car. A portion of the side wall is indicated at 11 and provision s made for securing the bulb angle 10 thereto by riveting as indicated at 12. It will be noted that the rivet 12 extends through a depending inner ange 13 of the bulb angle 10 and that the latter has a horizontal top ange 14 whichl extends outwardly of the car side wall 11. Along the outer edge of the top ange 14 is a depending outer ange 15. v

Positioned underneath the top ange 14 and outer ange 15 is a lading tie assembly that is indicated, generally, at 20 in which the present invention is embodied. lt includes a generally rectangular retainer member 21 a top plan view of which is shown in Figure 5. The lading tie assembly 20 also inciudes a generally rectangular link that is indicated at 22.

As shown in Figure 5 and above referred to the retainer member 2l, which preferably is formed of drop forged steel, is generally rectangular and is provided with a generally semi-cylindrical bearing surface 23 intermediate its ends that faces upwardly. The retainer member 21 is arranged to be positioned between the sides of the angle formed by the tianges 14 and 15 of the bulb angle 10. As shown, the left end 24 is secured by welding, as indicated at 25, to the undersurface 26 of the outer flange 15. The right end 27 is welded along three sides, as indicated at 28, to the undersurface 29 of the top ange 14.

The link 22, which is preferably formed of drop forged steel, includes a shaft 30 along the inner side which is journaled on the bearing surface 23 so that the axis 31 of rotation is generally horizontal. Formed integrally with the ends of the shaft 30 are side members 32 which include outwardly extending end portions 33 that are arranged to project underneath the lower edge 34 of the outer ange 15 and react against it as shown in Figure 3. Between the end portions 33 of the side members 32 is an integrally formed bar 35 that is arranged to receive a lading tie, such as a strap 36 as indicated in Figures Z ann 3 of the drawing. If desired, a lading tie in the form of a wire or cable 37, Figure z, can ue applied to the link 22 at the junction between one end of the bar 35 and the adjacent end portion 33 of the corlresponding side member 32. As long as some form of lading tie is applied to the link 22 and it is held in the position shown in Figure 3, it is immovable and cannot swing freely.

When the lading tie is removed, the link 22 swings by gravity in the direction indicated by the arrow 40 in Figure 4 to a position underneath the top ange 14.

With a view to preventing free swinging movement of the link 22 shoulders 41 are provided on opposite sides of the right end 27 of the retainer member 21 as shown more clearly in Figures 1 and 5 of the drawing. The shoulders 41 extend below a horizontal plane, indicated by the broken line 42, which extends through the axis 31 of rotation of the shaft 30. The faces 43 of the shoulders 41 are arranged to be frictionally engaged by cams 44 which are formed integrally with the portions of the side members 32 where they join the ends of the shaft 30.

When the generally rectangular link 22 swings downwardly and inwardly, as indicated by the arrow 40 in Figure 4, the cams 44 engage the faces 43 of the shoulders 41 frictionally and cause the surface of the shaft 30 on the side opposite the shoulders 41 to engage frictionally the portion 45 of the bearing surface 23 that is juxtaposed thereto. The link 22 then is wedgingly held between the shoulders 41 and the portion 45 of the hearing surface 23 and thereby is prevented from swinging freely. In this construction the frictional forces are provided wholly within the lading tie assembly 20. The wedging action takes place entirely between the retainer member 21 and the link 22. Thus it is unnecessary, as in the Oakley patent, to depend upon a wedging engagenent with a part exterior to the lading tie assembly with the attendant necessity for accurate and precise positioning of the parts in order to provide the desired frictional engagement.

The frictional forces can be overcome by grasping the bar 35 and swinging the link 22 to the position shown in Figure 3 for receiving a lading tie.

Since certain changes can be made in the foregoing construction and different embodiments of the invention can be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, it is intended that all matter shown in the accompan'ying drawing and described hereinbefore shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. Y

What is claimed as new is:`

l. In a railway gondola car, in combination, a bulb angle extending outwardly along the top of and secured to a wall of the car, said bulb angle having a depending flange along the outer edge of a horizontal top portion, a retainer member secured at one end to said ange and at the other end to the underside of said top por tion and having an upwardly facing semi-circular bearing surface between its ends, a generally rectangular link; said link including a cylindrical shaft on one side journaled on and having a diameter substantially the same as that of said bearing surface, a bar on the op posite side for receiving a lading tie, and end members interconnecting said shaft and bar of length sufficient to swing said lading tie receiving bar below and outside of said flange; a shoulder on each side of said other end of said retainer member facing the axis of rotation of said shaft, and a cam on each end member of said link facing and aligned with the respective shoulder and engageable therewith in a horizontal plane not lower than through said axis of rotation of said shaft and through the mutually engaging surfaces of said retainer member and said shaft opposite said shoulders whereby the friction forces incident to such swinging are contained wholly within said retainer member and link and are not transmitted to said bulb angle.

2. In a railway gondola car, in combination, a bulb angle extending outwardly along the top of and secured to a wall of the car, said bulb angle having a depending flange along the outer edge of a horizontal top portion, a retainer member secured at one end to said flange and at the other end to the underside of said top Aportion and having an upwardly facing semi-cylindrical bearing surface between its ends, a generally rectangular link; said link including a shaft on one side having an arcuate bearing surface journaled on said bearing surface of said retainer member, said arcuate bearing surface on said shaft corresponding in shape to the shape of said semicylindrical surface on said retainer member, a bar on the opposite side for receiving a lading tie, and end members interconnecting said shaft and bar of length sullicient to swing said lading tie receiving bar below and butside of said flange; a shoulder facing the axis of rotation of said shaft and mounted on said other end of said retainer member, and a cam facing and aligned with said shoulder and mounted on the adjacent end mem ber of said link and engageable with said shoulder along a straight line not lower than through said axis of rotation of said shaft and through the mutually engaging surfaces of said retainer member and said shaft opposite said shoulder whereby the friction forces incident to such swinging are contained wholly within said retainer member and link and are not transmitted to said bulb angle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,587,882 Oakley Mar. 4, 1952 

